Range hoods for kitchen areas are used to provide for air flow across a range or cooking surface in order to remove heat and/or fumes. Typically, such hoods may include one or more fans within a duct chamber placed over the range to receive air and fumes from the range and other parts of the kitchen area. The fan draws air up into the duct which in turn carries the fumes away from the range and draws more air across the cooking surface. Controls may be placed on the range hood, range, a remote control or any combination thereof depending upon the features provided.
Building codes or guidelines may set forth a certain minimum amount of air that must be moved by the range hood during use of the range. Such amounts are typically based on maximum use scenarios that assume e.g., full heat output by the range and/or other cooking appliances that may be present in the kitchen. These requirements can operate to provide reasonable temperatures within the kitchen area while preventing an undesirable buildup of fumes—particularly smoke or haze—within the kitchen area.
However, depending upon e.g., the amount and nature of heat and fumes produced by the range or other kitchen appliances, it may be desirable to recirculate back into the kitchen all or some portion of the air drawn into the hood. For example, during operation where smoke or fumes are minimal, the recirculation of the air may be preferable to exhausting the same to the atmosphere. Exhausting air to the atmosphere from a kitchen area will draw additional air into the kitchen that eventually must come from outside the structure or dwelling containing the kitchen area. Air from the outside may need to be heated or cooled by an air-conditioning system depending e.g., upon outside air temperature, which in turn consumes additional energy and provides added expense. Accordingly, for certain cooking situations, recirculation of air into the kitchen may be very desirable.
Certain range hoods have been provided that provide for recirculation only. While such designs may avoid the problems associated with drawing air from the exterior into the kitchen, as stated above, there can be times where the ability to draw fresh air from outside the kitchen is desirable or even required. Conversely, certain range hoods have been provided that provide only for drawing air from the exterior without a recirculation option, which can be undesirable where recirculation to the kitchen is preferable for reasons such as those described above. As a further complication, for certain kitchen applications, it may be preferable to filter the air using different filter media depending upon whether the range hood is venting to the exterior or recirculating.
Accordingly, a range hood that provides for both exterior venting or recirculation of air from a kitchen area would be useful. Such a range hood that allows the user to switch readily between recirculation and exterior venting without the use of tools or the permanent installation or removal of special parts would be beneficial. Additionally, such a range hood that also provide for the use of different filter media depending upon the mode of operation of the range hood would also be very useful.